Over A Galleon
by TheDarkMind10
Summary: This a re-write, Even if you didn't like the original, I ask you to read this as it is significantly different. I have added some fairly original ideas, used ones that aren't used very often, and continue to try to make this as original as possible. HP/DG, NL/TD
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I'm going to rewrite this. I wasn't happy with how it was going, and in the time I have been writing, I have already learned several things about myself. I will take down the original copy of this when I pass the point that I have already reached, if I get there. I'm still not sure whether I will make just cosmetic changes, or perhaps change the entire plot line beyond the basic one of Harry becoming estranged from his friends. Just looking at the first few lines though, I'm almost tempted to just start from scratch. Sorry for the long note.**

**Disclaimer: While I own one copy of each of the seven books (2 of the first,) I do not actually have any claim to the Harry Potter franchise. Those rights belong to J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros., and a whole host of other people that aren't worth mentioning. That goes for the entire story.**

Harry sighed as Ron continued another rant about how all Slytherins are "junior Death Eaters that are spying on us for You-Know-Who." This was, of course, on the heels of Malfoy, once again, making fun of Harry, Hermione, and Ron.

_If only he knew that I spend time with a Slytherin __willingly_, Harry mused to himself. _He might explode. Maybe I'll keep that information from him and Hermione for quite some time._

Harry had been meeting in secret with a Slytherin since the winter holidays in second year. It was a coincidence they even met, but both had looked forward to their weekly meetings for the past two years.

"Ron, stop talking about the Slytherins. It isn't fair to judge all of them on the actions of a few." Hermione's voice interrupted Harry's thoughts.

"But it's true," Ron whined. Harry, sensing another legendary argument between the two, quickly left before things got heated. Normally, Harry would serve as a mediator between the two, but he didn't feel like using the energy at the moment. He quickly slipped up to the dorms and grabbed his trusty invisibility cloak and the Marauders' Map. Slipping back down into the common room, and past his two arguing friends, he slipped out of the portrait hole. Looking at the map, he was about to head towards Hagrid's hut when he saw a certain name by herself in an abandoned classroom on the first floor_. I think Hagrid's can wait for another day. I'll go surprise her instead. _Harry slipped on his cloak, and proceeded towards the classroom. Stopping outside for a moment, he took off his cloak, and taking a deep breath, walked into the room.

"What are you up to on this lovely evening, Greengrass?" Harry greeted the figure with her back to the door. It was hard to catch Daphne Greengrass off guard, but Harry Potter may have been the only person to do it so often.

Recovering herself, Daphne turned around and said, "Never sneak up on me like that again, Potter. How did you find me, anyway?"

"A wizard never reveals his secrets," Harry declared .

"You always say that, but you know I will find out eventually," Daphne declared.

"In your dreams, Greengrass. In your dreams," Harry not-so-smartly retorted.

"That's it Potter," Daphne growled and then jumped at Harry. Harry, not expecting her to launch herself at him, fell over, with Daphne on top of him. With both of them blushing at the awkward position, Daphne hastily got off of him.

"A little help, maybe?" Harry asked from the floor.

"You don't deserve it," Daphne said with mock hurt, but helped him up anyway.

After Harry pulled over two chairs for them, he said "You never answered my question. What brings you here?"

"I could ask you the same thing," Daphne said. "But Tracey and Parkinson were fighting, and I didn't feel like listening to them."

"Ah, that's why I'm here, too. Ron and Hermione were fighting, _again_, and I didn't feel like hanging around for it," Harry replied.

"I wonder when they'll just admit that they have feelings for each other," Daphne idly wondered.

"I don't know," said Harry. "I think they truly annoy each other. I sometimes think how bad Ron might treat her if it weren't for me. Hell, she might even be dead." Daphne had heard the story about how Harry had wanted to save Hermione from the troll during first year that she knew what he was talking about.

"You do realize, Potter, that if it weren't for you, there likely wouldn't have been that troll in the first place," Daphne pointed out.

"Er, can we, like, get off this subject, please. It's kind of morbid to talk about what might or might not have happened in the past if not for me," Harry begged. He was suddenly struck by an idea; one that he hoped Daphne wouldn't be mad with him for. The last thing he really wanted to do was piss her off, as she could be downright scary at times. "Let's go for a walk somewhere. It's a nice evening, and this room is kind of dull."

Daphne looked at Harry for a moment, and he was scared that she would rip into him. Instead, she smiled and said, "Alright, Potter. But where? We don't want our friendship to become common knowledge."

Harry thought a moment before asking, "Would it truly matter Daphne? Does the thought of you being seen with me in public bother you?"

Daphne quickly backtracked. "No, no, no. It's not that Potter." _Quite the opposite actually._ "It's just that our housemates would give us so much crap. I don't know what it is truly like in Gryffindor, but I would need to sleep with one eye open in Slytherin." Harry just gave her a look that said he didn't believe that for a second. "Okay, I might have exaggerated slightly, but that would be next to social suicide in Slytherin."

"It wouldn't be any better in Gryffindor, Greengrass. But I wouldn't mind. Ron probably wouldn't talk to me for a while, but eventually he would get over it. And Hermione would probably be okay with it. I don't believe for a minute that the Slytherins wouldn't get over it eventually."

"Fine, we'll go for a walk, Potter. But you are responsible if I get cold," Daphne smirked. She took his hand and together they went for a walk out on the Hogwarts grounds.

The backlash the following morning was enormous. Harry and Daphne found themselves being stared at quite a bit at breakfast, and both felt extremely uncomfortable. Ron had made a point of totally ignoring Harry, and Hermione found herself in a precarious position, figuratively speaking. She didn't necessarily disagree with Harry, but she also didn't want to rock the boat any further. Daphne, as expected, had been ignored by the majority of the Slytherins. Even her best friend, Tracey Davis, had barely spoken to her after Daphne and Harry had gone for their walk the previous evening. Interestingly, Daphne couldn't find it in herself to care what other people thought. She had felt the house rivalries to be a bit ridiculous, and this didn't do anything but make her think them even more ridiculous. It wasn't like your Hogwarts house had anything to do with your life in the future.

The only thing that kept Daphne and Harry from being the center of attention was the scheduled arrival of the other participating schools of the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Everyone in the school was anxious to see what the other schools would look like. Not much was known about either school, other than Beauxbatons was in France, or Durmstrang taught the Dark Arts as a part of their curriculum and was Viktor Krum's school. Most students truthfully had no idea how a Hogwarts champion would stand up against the champions of the other schools.

The Hogwarts students were excited that classes were cut short for the day so that they could receive the other schools at 4:30. They were lined up by year and house. Fortunately for Harry, he had a spot on the end, with Neville on the other side. The two talked quietly while they were waiting for the other schools.

"Harry, I just want you to know that while most of our house probably feels differently, I support you in this whole thing with Daphne Greengrass," whispered Neville. Unfortunately, Ron had heard him and glared at Harry.

"C'mon Neville. How can you betray Gryffindor like that? Greengrass is nothing but a filthy snake," said the red-head, getting riled up.

"No, Ron. You are betraying Gryffindor by turning your back on one of your housemates. There is no rule that says Gryffindors can't hang out with Slytherins, or any house can't interact with another." Ron, and everyone else within hearing range was surprised by the outburst from the normally quiet Neville Longbottom. They had no time to dwell on it as a second year pointed out something flying towards the assembled group. As it got closer, some people were able to make it out as a flying carriage, reminding some muggleborns and half-bloods of Cinderella. Hagrid directed the large flying horses carrying the carriage down as the carriage hit the ground with a large _thud_. As soon as it stopped, a small boy came out and put out a set of stairs. A large woman then emerged from the carriage that was at least the same size as Hagrid. Following her were about twenty students that were probably cold, due to the fact that they were only wearing silk uniforms. After the large woman, who was introduced as Madame Maxime, and Dumbledore exchanged greetings, the Beauxbatons students went inside the castle. Minutes later, a disturbance on the lake caught the attention of the students. Suddenly, a large ship appeared on the lake. After it docked, roughly twenty Central Europeans marched off the ship, dressed in winter furs. The man that was presumably their headmaster also exchanged greetings with Dumbledore, in which he was introduced as Headmaster Karkaroff. He led one of his students that many quidditch fanatics recognized as Viktor Krum into the castle before the rest of the Durmstrang students followed. Then the Hogwarts students slowly filed back into the castle as well.

At the feast, Dumbledore had Filch bring out the Goblet of Fire, which was mostly unremarkable, except for the fire that was burning in the middle. Dumbledore went on to explain that the champions would be selected by the Goblet of Fire in twenty-four hours. He also explained that he would put up an age line to keep anyone not of age from entering the tournament, as that had been one of the modifications to be able to bring the tournament back this year. The last part was announced much to the disappointment of several fifth and sixth years in particular.

During the feast, Harry was once again seated away from most of his housemates. Neville was the only one really willing to sit next to him. Fortunately, Harry was able to sneak glances at Daphne from his seat. He didn't know when it started, but he did know that he felt something for the Ice Queen of Slytherin. Little did he know that she also felt something for him. From his seat, he was able to see that she was annoyed by whatever Draco Malfoy was discussing with Viktor Krum. He found the expression quite cute. He was broken out of his reverie when Neville said something.

"Huh? What was that Neville?" asked Harry, stupidly.

"I said you're smitten. Just ask her out already," said Neville.

"I am not _smitten_. I just…Okay, maybe I'm _a little_ smitten," conceded Harry, grudgingly.

"What is that muggle saying, Harry? The first step to curing the problem is to admit you have it?"

"I don't have a problem," grumbled Harry, who went back to watching Daphne. She caught his eye and winked, causing him to blush. Neville noticed and tried desperately to keep in his laughter.

"Harry, you've got it worse than I thought," said Neville.

After the feast, Harry was able to catch up to Daphne. They quickly ducked into an unused classroom on the first floor.

"What?" asked Daphne.

"I'd like to make a friendly wager on who'll be the Hogwarts Tri-Wizard Champion," said Harry. "I don't know what the wage should be though. How about a galleon?"

"All right, my pick is that Diggory kid from Hufflepuff. He seems well-liked and talented enough to be the Hogwarts champion," bet Daphne.

"I'm going to stay in my house and bet Angelina Johnson," returned Harry. They then sealed the bet with a handshake.

**A/N: Whew! That was my longest chapter ever. As you can see, I am going to try and slow this down a bit. I'm also going to try to eliminate some of the clichés from the original version as well. I'm starting to once again believe that Ron wasn't an evil person, just bull-headed at times. The same could be said about Harry, and I believe that Hermione also had Harry's best interests at heart throughout the stories. Dumbledore is a complicated character, but I don't believe his motives were against Harry. He genuinely cared about Harry, he just seemed to think that he always knew what was best for everyone. I'll actually start on the next chapter as soon as this is posted.**

**TheDarkMind10**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Now is when the fun starts. This chapter two will be nothing like the first one in which Harry let himself get walked over.**

The morning of October 31 wasn't necessarily a pleasant one for Harry Potter. It wasn't really anything that happened so much as what that day meant to him personally. It was made harder by the fact that everyone else wanted to remember that day based on what Harry had supposedly done for the entire wizarding world rather than what it had cost him. Fortunately, Neville had noticed his mood and was able to cheer Harry up. So it was a slightly happier Harry that attended the Halloween/Tri-Wizard Tournament feast that evening.

After everyone had finished eating, Dumbledore got up and announced that the goblet would be ready in a matter of minutes. Sure enough, not two minutes later, the fire changed color, and out shot a piece of parchment. Dumbledore snatched it out of the air, and read, "Representing Durmstrang in this year's Tri-Wizard tournament is… VIKTOR KRUM!" The Durmstrang portion of the students erupted into cheers. Another piece of parchment shot up. "Representing Beauxbatons will be…FLEUR DELACOUR!" The applause came primarily from the males in the room as the Beauxbatons champion got up. The third piece of parchment shot up. "And representing Hogwarts is…ANGELINA JOHNSON!" This time, the applause was deafening, as most of the hall was Hogwarts students. Harry was glad that he won the bet.

Dumbledore directed each of the champions into a side chamber off the hall. He was about to start speaking when the Goblet flared again. Surprised, it took Dumbledore a second to grab the parchment. "HARRY POTTER!"

Shocked, as most of the hall was, Harry could only stay seated until Dumbledore called his name again. Slowly, Harry got up and walked towards the front of the hall. "I'm hoping that you didn't put your name in the goblet Harry, or that you didn't ask someone to do it for you," spoke the Headmaster in a serious tone. "I'll look into ways to get you out of this, but even if you didn't write your name, I still believe you are bound to compete. I am truly sorry, my boy."

Dumbledore then directed Harry to the side chamber. Upon his entry, the other champions looked at him surprised. The Beauxbatons champion asked, "Do zey want us back in zeir?"

Still in shock, all Harry could do was shake his head. Then the teachers and tournament organizers entered the room, arguing.

"This cannot be allowed, Dumbledore! I demand that the goblet be relit so all the schools can have two champions!" demanded Karkaroff.

"I'm afraid, my dear Igor, that it would be impossible. The goblet won't relight until the start of the next tournament," said Dumbledore.

"Quite convenient, isn't it, Igor?" asked Moody rhetorically, looking suspiciously at the Durmstrang Headmaster.

"Zen I weesh to leave!" exclaimed Maxime.

"Unfortunately, you can't do that as your champion is bound to compete," said Ludo Bagman.

"It shouldn't surprise anyone here. Potter is clearly just looking for attention," came the drawl of Snape.

"The leetle boy shouldn't be able to compete," protested Fleur Delacour. That seemed finally set off Harry.

"You know, I didn't _want_ to compete. I was hoping for a normal year for once. But now, I feel the need to compete just to show you that I am not in fact a _leetle boy_," scowled Harry.

"I believe Harry. I know him better than anyone else in the room, and based on what he's had to go through the last three years here, I know he wouldn't have entered himself into the tournament," Angelina came to the defense of her teammate.

"I'll take a magical oath in public that I didn't enter myself or ask someone to do so on my behalf if I have to," Harry said.

"Right, let's finish this argument later. At the moment, as it appears that there are four champions, we will have to adjust the tasks slightly, but the first task will still be held on November 22nd. Any questions? Goodbye, then," explained Barty Crouch.

As the champions were leaving the chamber, Harry caught up to Angelina. "Thanks for defending me back there. I feel you still are the Hogwarts champion," said Harry.

"No problem. You are like my little brother, you know. Plus, it just doesn't seem like you would do something like that," said Angelina, smiling.

Back in the common room, there was a split. Some people, led by Ron Weasley and Seamus Finnegan, felt that Harry had cheated his way into the tournament, and was just trying to steal attention from Angelina.

The majority, though, led by the rest of the Quidditch team, seemed to think that Harry hadn't cheated his way in, and something was up. Also present in the second group were Hermione Granger and Neville Longbottom, the latter of whom was arguing with Ron.

This was the scene the two champions returned to. Ron quickly stopped arguing with Neville and came over to Angelina.

"You have my entire support, Angelina. I can't believe that _Potter_ actually cheated his way into the tournament," said Ron, saying Potter as if it was the foulest word in the world.

Angelina sized Ron up for a moment, then said, "You are a narrow-minded fool. I thought Harry was your friend, but evidently you aren't a very good one if you are willing to judge him before he has a chance to explain himself." The disgust on her face was clearly evident.

Then Ron went over to Harry, and started yelling at him. "You! You clearly brain-washed Angelina! Are you a dark wizard or something? It is disgusting that she is defending you when she clearly is the true Hogwarts champion!"

Harry calmly replied, "Ron, I agree with you to an extent. Angelina is the true Hogwarts champion. However, I'm at a loss as to how you can judge me so quickly, without giving me a chance to explain myself. Maybe I was deluding myself into thinking you were really my friend. I see all these people that are supporting me, but my supposed best mate throws me under the bus? It's over, Ron."

"Fine! I don't care! Walk away like the cheater you are! I'll get on just fine without you!" Ron shouted after Harry.

"It's not just him, Ron," said Hermione. "I don't want to be friends with someone like you. Go find someone else to do your homework for you!" As she, too, walked away, you could feel the tension in the air. Eventually, everyone went up to their dorms.

The next morning, Harry came down to breakfast earlier than normal, and went up to the staff table to ask something. After getting approval from the Headmaster, Harry sat down feeling better. After the Great Hall had filled up a bit more, Dumbledore stood up.

"Good morning! Now, a student has asked me to be able to announce something this morning, so I ask you to please give Mr. Potter your brief attention."

At his words, the students collectively turned their attention to the Gryffindor table. Harry nervously stood up. "Uh, good morning! Now, I know some of you think that I cheated my way into the tournament. I am here to make an oath on my magic that I didn't. I, Harry James Potter, swear on my magic that I did not enter my name into the tournament, nor did I ask an older student to. So mote it be!" A flash of magic signified the oath, and a quick _Lumos_ confirmed that Harry still had his magic.

After he took the oath, many people from all the houses came up to him and apologized for thinking he had cheated. One notable exception was Ron, who still looked at Harry like he was the scum of the Earth. Harry sighed, but he knew he would have several other people to turn to during the tournament, specifically Neville, Hermione and Daphne. Harry also suspected that Angelina would help him if he asked. After all, she had said he was like her little brother, and he doubted she, as the probable candidate for Quidditch Captain next year, would want her star Seeker dead.

Later that evening, Harry met up with Daphne. "I won the bet, Daphne. Pay up."

Daphne sighed. "I don't have the money on me right now."

Harry thought a second, then said, "Okay. How about I instead get to take you out for lunch during the next Hogsmeade weekend?"

"That seems more like a benefit for me," Daphne said, before she could catch herself. "I mean…" she blushed.

"No, I think it benefits me more," Harry disagreed. "I get to take one of the prettiest witches in Hogwarts out on a date."

"Fine, but don't get any ideas beyond the lunch date," Daphne conceded, while secretly hoping that it would turn into more than just the date. _Damn it!_ _Why am I thinking like that. He's a lion and I'm a snake! It would never work! Or would it? Oh stop thinking like that! Of course it wouldn't! Why am I arguing with myself?_

"I'll see you there," promised Harry.

Another week had passed in the castle. Harry had introduced Neville and Hermione to Daphne, and in turn, Daphne had introduced her best friend, Tracey Davis to them. She and Neville seemed to hit it off quite well. Suddenly, Harry and Daphne's lunch date turned into a double date. Unfortunately, Ron seemed to know about it, and Neville and Harry had to listen to him complain about how they were betraying Gryffindor and how they were being used by the slimy snakes. It took Neville and Harry quite a bit of self-control to keep from hexing him into next week.

Meanwhile, Hermione had done some research into past Tri-Wizard Tournaments for Harry, and learned that most Tournaments' first task usually had something to do with magical creatures. Harry had started reading up on spells that were generally effective against large magical creatures, including dragons, trolls, and acromantulas. Harry was hoping it would be something easier than those creatures, though.

The double date had gone very well for both couples. Both Harry and Neville had gotten second dates from each of their respective companions.

In the week leading up to the first task, Harry stepped up his training of spells to use against magical creatures, or more specifically, dragons. Harry had gotten a letter from Hagrid asking him to come to his hut late one night, and to bring his invisibility cloak. While it turned out that Hagrid was actually on a date with Madame Maxime, Harry had followed them into the forest, under his cloak, as Hagrid had instructed. While there, he saw bursts of flame and heard chains rattling. It didn't take a genius to figure out that the first task would have something to do with dragons. While there, Harry also saw Karkaroff. Knowing that Maxime would tell Fleur and Karkaroff would tell Krum, Harry realized that Angelina would be the only one not knowing what the first task would be. Harry had briefly considered not telling her, but decided against it, as he was starting to see her as something of a sister, similar to Hermione. Plus, she had helped him when he was being accused of cheating, so he decided to go ahead and tell her.

To say that Angelina had been relieved that Harry had told her was an understatement. She hugged him so tightly that Harry thought he would be unable to move his arms for a week.

"Thank you, Harry. I was really worried about what it would be. Not that dragons will be easy to defeat, but at least I can prepare knowing what it will be," she said, relief filling her voice.

"No problem. It's the least I can do after you helped me out," said Harry, smiling.

Harry wouldn't just let Angelina, or anyone for that matter, win easily. If he had an opportunity, he would try to win the tournament. But he wouldn't go out of his way to give himself an extra advantage.

**A/N: I finished this long before it got posted, but since I'm a car as I type this Author's Note, I don't have any access to the internet. I will probably start working on the third chapter tonight, as my laptop is currently almost dead, but I might get it started before we stop for the night. Thank you to all who reviewed, followed, and/or favorited. I think it is obvious that I have changed this story far beyond cosmetic changes. I might eventually change the title, but it works for now. I hope my pacing is better than in the original. Signing of on the Ken Gray Expressway in Southern Illinois.**

**TheDarkMind10**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Sorry for the delay. I had some difficulties in trying to figure out how exactly I wanted the first task to go down, and in my frustration, I took a few weeks off from writing. Yeah, it's not the greatest excuse, but whatever. Thank you for your continued support of this story.**

Harry sighed again, as he tried to troop through this seemingly meaningless ceremony. Honestly, who really cared what the champions' wands were made of? Perhaps the only bright spot of the damn thing was that he got to miss Potions. Though after his "interview," or as Harry considered it, "interrogation," with Rita Skeeter, in which he had no faith would show up in the_ Daily Prophet_ as the truth, Harry actually thought he would rather be back in the dungeons.

As Ollivander finished up with Angelina's wand, he turned his attention to Harry.

"Ah, yes, Mr. Potter. I remember this wand quite well. 11 inches, Holly with Phoenix Feather. Quite an interesting combination, I must say. Anyway, it seems to be in decent shape. You take care of it, I'm guessing?" the slightly creepy, old man asked Harry. At Harry's nod, he continued, "Yes, it still works just fine." To prove his point, Ollivander shot a few red sparks out the end of the wand.

"That should do it, then. I hereby deem all competitors' wands to be useable for the upcoming Tri-Wizard Tournament. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a shop to get back to." And with that, Ollivander left the room.

Unfortunately for Harry, this mini Hell-on-Earth was far from over. As he tried to head for the door, Rita Skeeter spoke up, "Time for pictures!" Groaning, Harry turned back towards the middle of the room.

The next hour was pure chaos. The champions had to pose for all sorts of pictures. Rita and her cameraman nearly came to blows on who should be the main focus. Rita thought Harry should have been the main focus, while the cameraman thought Fleur should have been the main focus. Instead, Dumbledore intervened and suggested Viktor Krum, the Quidditch celebrity. In the end, neither Rita nor her cameraman were happy, but the fighting stopped. Another problem arose during those group photos as well. Madame Maxime cast a shadow no matter where she stood. Eventually, it was decided that they would dim the lights, and Maxime would stand in the back.

Then came the individual shots. Harry was, of course, last, so he had to stick around the longest of all of the Champions. Harry was getting hungry, and the pictures weren't helping his mood. Fortunately, though, Harry didn't have to take all too long, as the cameraman had taken more pictures of Fleur than he thought. Harry wasn't going to complain, though, and as soon as he was done, he made a beeline for the door, before Rita Skeeter could try to interrogate him again.

"Wait! Harry! I'm sure our readers would love to read about you!" Rita tried calling after him, but Harry ignored the annoying reporter.

Harry, still in a bad mood from the Weighing of the Wands Ceremony, stormed to the Great Hall. Perhaps it was immature of him, but honestly, Rita Skeeter just made him that upset. As he opened one of the large doors to the Great Hall, the entire hall quieted for a moment to turn and see who made the large amount of noise, opening the door. Seeing it was a rather irritable looking Harry Potter, something that wasn't new, they all turned back to what they had been doing previously, not paying Harry any mind.

Harry quickly scanned the crowd of people in the hall, and found Neville and Hermione sitting across from each other, with a seat open next to Hermione. Harry made his way to his two closest Gryffindor friends, taking the empty seat. Neville, sensing Harry's bad mood, asked, "What's got your knickers in a twist, mate?"

The question caused Harry to stop piling food onto his plate and raise an eyebrow at the Longbottom heir, while Hermione made a noise of indignation. A second later, Harry burst out laughing. "I never…thought…I would…hear…you…say something…like that," Harry managed to get out between laughs.

"Honestly," Hermione said. "You two are so immature."

"We know," Harry and Neville said at the same time.

"But seriously," continued Harry. "It was Rita Skeeter. The Weighing of the Wands is a stupid thing, in the first place-"

"It is a _tradition_, Harry," interrupted Hermione, who blushed in embarrassment when Harry arched an eyebrow at her. "Sorry," she apologized.

"Anyway," continued Harry, "the stupid ceremony was made a hundred times worse by the fact that Rita Skeeter wouldn't leave me alone. She pulled me into a broom closet before the ceremony started," Harry had to pause to wait for Neville to stop snickering. When he wouldn't stop, Harry shot a stinging hex at his male friend.

"Sorry, you can continue," said Neville, still smirking a bit.

"Anyway, she pulled me into a broom closet to interview me, and I'm sure that when the article comes out, it will be rumors and straight out lies," scowled Harry. "And then, during the group pictures, she wanted me to be the main focus. Fortunately, Dumbledore convinced her and her cameraman to have Viktor become the main focus, but it was annoying as all hell, and kept us at least 15 minutes. And I barely managed to avoid her as I was leaving. It was like she was about to rape me or something," Harry concluded.

Neville just smirked. "Of course she was trying to rape you, Harry. She dragged you into a broom closet." Harry just glared at the young Longbottom. Behind Neville, Harry saw Daphne looking at him with a questioning look. Harry mouthed _'later'_ over Neville's shoulder. Neville, noticing this, turned around to see who Harry was communicating with. It didn't take him long to see Daphne. "Uh-oh, Harry. I think Daphne will be jealous of Skeeter."

Harry just looked at Neville and growled "Shut it."

On the morning of the first task, Hogwarts was buzzing. Most everyone was excited for the start of the tournament, with a few exceptions. Harry was among those exceptions. He didn't really know how he was supposed to compete with students that were older and more experienced than he was. Harry still didn't really know what he was going to do. He had considered transfiguring something on the ground to distract the dragon, but he didn't really know what to transfigure that would hold the interest of the dragon long enough for Harry to subdue it or whatever he had to do to it.

Harry had also considered that maybe he might be able to talk to it in parseltongue, but he didn't want to risk it. Talking to it would make Harry vulnerable, and if it didn't work, he would have been deep fried. This had left Harry with very few options. Then he considered something that just might work. He decided that it was worth a shot. If not, well, Gryffindors charge forward.

As Hermione, Neville and Tracey broke off with Harry and Daphne at the tent where the champions were meeting before the task, Daphne stayed behind for a moment.

"You'd better come back alive, Harry, because I truthfully really care about you," she started. "I mean, I know we've only been on one date, but we've known each other for a few years, now, and I don't know if I could live without seeing you at least every once and a while." Daphne was on the verge of tears at this point, so Harry, who was extremely uncomfortable with emotional girls, kissed her. It had the desired effect, as Daphne finally stopped crying, for which Harry was thankful.

Eventually, the two had to separate for air, though Harry wouldn't have minded. He could think of about a million worse ways to die than kissing his girlfriend.

"What was that for?" asked Daphne. "Not that I'm complaining, or anything, just surprised, you know."

"You were rambling," Harry replied, which got him a quick slap to the arm.

"Prat," Daphne said. "Well, I suppose I'd better go. Remember, Harry, don't do anything too stupid. I don't want to have to find another boyfriend," she said before hugging Harry, and walking towards the stands, where she would meet up with the other three.

Harry vowed to himself that he would get out of the tournament alive, even if only to make sure Daphne wouldn't have to endure the pain of losing him.

Unknown to both Harry and Daphne, a beetle had been eavesdropping on their entire converstation.

In the tent, Harry found an empty chair next to Angelina, which he promptly sat in. The two made small talk until Ludo Bagman entered the tent.

"Alright, ladies and gentleman, gather 'round and listen up!" Bagman said. "In a few moments, the first task of the tournament will begin. Each of you will enter be in the arena at different times. You will have to get the golden egg located in the middle of the ring. Now in this bag, there are four different varieties of the obstacle that will separate you from this egg. Along with each one will be a number signifying your order you will enter the arena," Bagman concluded, while holding a red, silk bag. "Ladies first," he said, holding the bag out to Fleur, the Beauxbatons champion. To her dismay, she drew a dragon Harry recognized as a Hungarian Horntail, with the number '4' around its neck.

Angelina drew a Chinese Fireball next, with the number '3' around its neck.

Viktor was the next to draw, and got a Swedish Short-Snout and the number '1' around its neck. Harry, upon seeing this, let out a sigh of relief, as he really didn't want to go first.

Harry's own dragon was a Common Welsh Green, which of course had the number two around its neck. After a quick word of explanation of when to enter the arena, Bagman left the tent to join the rest of the judges on the panel.

As Viktor entered the arena, Harry went into a semi-meditative state, looking to find his core. He knew he would need to use as much power as he could if he was going to pull off his plan, and the best way to access that was to find one's inner core and temporarily become one with it. The theory was that it would temporarily open up every possible outlet for magic in the body, allowing one to cast with as much power as they possessed. Fortunately for Harry, he had a sizeable amount of power.

Harry left this meditative state when he heard the bell, signifying the end of Viktor's battle with the dragon. Harry awaited for the next bell, which would signify his turn to enter the arena. When the bell sounded, Harry entered the arena, taking in the geographical features of the enclosure. It was for the most part very rocky, though there appeared to be a small pond directly across from him, behind the dragon.

The dragon itself was, as the name suggested, green, and of the four dragons, the one that Harry would consider the easiest to pull his plan off against. As he heard the bell again, signifying the start of his the battle, Harry quickly took cover behind a large rock. He quickly cast a fire-proofing charm on himself, hoping he wouldn't need it. Taking a deep breath, Harry prepared himself before getting out of his cover and firing sparks of to the side of the dragon. The spell got the dragon's attention just long enough for Harry to capitalize, as the dragon fired a jet of flames at the youngest champion, only for those flames to be met with a steady flow of water coming from said champion's wand.

Normally, the _augmenti_ charm wasn't very draining on a person's core. However, when one had to get as much power as Harry did behind it, and sustain it, it became very draining, very fast. Fortunately for Harry, his meditation in the tent helped him, as he tapped into power reserves he wouldn't have otherwise been able to use, as he continued the charm.

The spectators all cast cooling charms on themselves, as the heat coming from the steam the dragon and Harry were producing was extremely hot.

Fortunately for Harry, the dragon eventually had to stop breathing fire for a moment, to catch its breath. This was all the opening that Harry needed, however, as the continued stream of water from his wand continued traveling towards the dragon's open mouth. The result was a lot of steam coming from its nostrils, as Harry had effectively put out its inner fire for a few minutes. Now was the second part of Harry's plan, which was to simply go grab the egg from the center. Unfortunately, he had to dodge an angry dragon's attacks with its feet, claws, and wings. Eventually, though Harry managed to make it past the dragon and grab the Golden Egg, before quickly running away and dodging behind another rock as the Common Welsh Green shot out another gout of flames, evidently with its inner fire back alive.

Harry stayed behind the rock as the dragon handlers came into the enclosure to subdue the dragon. For the first time, Harry noticed that Bagman had been announcing the whole thing. Harry hadn't heard him, as the adrenaline rush he had really only allowed him to focus on the dragon. Now that the adrenaline had worn off now, Harry finally felt a little pain from his steam burns and the scratches and nicks the dragon had given him. He also felt quite tired, and wished for nothing more than a nice quiet nap.

Once the dragon handlers had finished subduing the dragon, Harry was escorted to another tent off of the arena, one that was white and had four beds. Harry guessed that this was the medical tent, and was not disappointed when Madame Pomfrey came over seconds later.

After a few diagnostic charms, Pomfrey quickly closed all of his wounds with a few flicks of her wand. She then applied burn ointment to his chest and face, which had been burnt by the steam, and gave him a small jar of it to apply over the next few days, before finally giving him a clean bill of health. A relieved Harry quickly left the tent, where Krum was still being attended to due to severe burns, before Madame Pomfrey could change her mind.

Harry decided to find his friends, and quickly located them, with a seat open between Daphne and Hermione. Harry made his way over there, and arrived just in time to see the judges awarding his score. Harry earned 8 points from both Crouch and Dumbledore, 7 from Maxime, 10 from Bagman, and a 3 from Karkaroff to several boos from the Hogwarts students, as well as some from Beauxbatons. All in all, Harry received a total of 36 points, which wasn't too bad, but he felt he should have gotten a slightly higher score.

After his friends properly greeted him, he was pulled into a kiss from Daphne that resulted in several catcalls and wolf-whistles from the people around them. Blushing, the couple pulled apart.

"You survived. Thank goodness, Harry," Daphne said. "It was awful seeing you out there. Even though you had it mostly in hand, I got extremely nervous just watching you."

"Oh, come on. It will take more than just a dragon to keep me from taking you on a second date, Daphne," said Harry, which earned him another kiss.

Neville, clearing his throat, said, "I still can't believe Karkaroff only gave you three points, mate. Krum got severely burnt, and Karkaroff still gave him a 10. He got a total of 32 points," Neville informed Harry.

"Oh well, what're you going to do about it?" Harry asked rhetorically, slightly annoyed be the favoritism shown be the Durmstrang Headmaster.

Harry and his friends watched as Angelina transfigured a few boulder into a small heard of deer, which her Chinese Fireball went after with gusto. If not for the fact that she got hit by the dragon's swinging tail, which sent her flying and appeared to give her a concussion, she might have broken 40 points. As it was, she finished the task and received a total of 36 points, tying her with Harry.

Fleur was the last Champion to go. She somehow managed to subdue the highly dangerous Hungarian Horntail, causing it to fall asleep, but was badly burnt when it snorted flames out of it's nostrils. She finished with 34 points, enough to place her third.

That night in Gryffindor Tower, there was a large party celebrating both of their champions being tied for first place. Harry, Seamus, Dean, and few of the older Gryffindor boys helped Fred and George smuggle a ton of food and drinks into the common room from Hogsmeade and the kitchens. In a party that was larger than those that celebrated their Quidditch victories, excluding perhaps the Quidditch Cup party last year, almost everyone in fifth year and higher got extremely drunk. How Fred and George had gotten so much Firewhiskey was anyone's guess. Harry, too, got pissed, as the older years encouraged their younger champion to live a little.

After the first sip, despite the burning it caused, Harry eventually finished the whole bottle, and got about halfway through another before Hermione had finally managed to pull it away from him. It did, however, cause a little scene, when the drunken Harry went to kiss her. Hermione slapped him and told him that he was dating Daphne, which at least allowed him to clear his head enough to apologize before heading up to his dorm to get some sleep. Unfortunately, sleep that night was nearly impossible to get, as the party, even without Harry, continued well past 3 o'clock the following morning.

**A/N: Woo-Hoo! I finally finished the chapter. The chapter was just short of 3,000 words, though the Word document as a whole, including the two author's notes, is closer to 3,100. Finally, after nearly two months of writing on and off, and redoing the entire chapter, I can finally say I have it finished. I will try to get the next chapter up within the next two months, but no promises. I tend to get distracted from this very easily, as I'll find a good, epic story, which takes up several days at a time of my computer time, and I go back to school at the end of the month. **

**TheDarkMind10**


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